New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1887-12-23
I-NuELCONE ILNLTONS-


The number Of plans that have been sub
m;ttrd to Congress, for the restriction II immi-
grafton i, an evidence II the strong popular
interest in the subject. There are not wanting
persons who cIlim that nothing in the averag"
quality Of imm grant, or their proportion To our
population give, ground for serious concern.
Mr.. Andrew Carnegie recently expressed IN
optimistic view somewhat in til, strain. But
the statistic, do not seem 10 bear u out. When
not onc-third OF one pen cent. on the average.
II immigrants arc turned back - Ineligible
under the Law. and when. meyer
thclc,S. To- take only tAo examples - per
cent Of the Irish discharged convict, are sad
by the Howard society 81 London To- have
found their way t. the United states. and
nearly - per cent Il the inmate, 81 the New
York Insane Asylum proved To- be foreign
born. IT il clear that large numbers Of lmnl-
grants get through the sieve, # il can be- called
one, who ought to stick there. Iol ut least
"A dozen years back fully onc-quartcr Of our
increase Of population has been by immigration
This is a factor then. Of tremendous I'M
portancc. and the statistic, Of prisons, insane
asylumls. poorhnu>cs and the like. all over the
country. prove that We are paying a consider
able proportion 81 our take, every year to sup
port criminals iunatlcs idiots and paupcrs
who do not belong to us.
Many bill. have been offered Oh the subject.
several Of them coincidlng III yarou, respects
Secretary Fairchild's excellent suggestion that
"A fine should be imposed upon the master Of
every vessel bringing member Of the pro-
hibitcd classes and the fine made a lien upon
the vessel is found in yarou, bill, in differ
cnt forms. The Secretary also recommended
that where aliens who have been permitted 10
land are found, after time To be fixed by
Congress- to belong 10 one Of these classes,
they should be dcpoItcd at the expense Of the
steamer bringing them subject to fine in case
If failure senator Pamcr's bill is the most
comprehensive yet offered. This requires the
immigrant To- bring "A certificate from the United
states Consul in the district from which he
comes that he is capable Of taking care Of
himself and is not hostile 20 our form Of GOV
eminent. 1t also requires each immigrant to
pay duty Of q number Of dollars. TO be fixed
by Congress, and which would not need 10 be
great to be prohibitory III many cases; and
provides penalties against steamship companies
similar to those suggested by Secretary Fair
child. Senator Farwcll offers II bill requiring
immigrants to show that they can support them
selves and their families for six months; Scna-
tor Morrill, bill requiring the certificate Of the
United States Consul, the fee for which Is to
take tho place Of the hcad-moncy tax here
and Senator Reagan bill authorizing the APP
p0intmcnt Of Inspectors Of immigration 10
board vessels and dctan immigrants until il
could be determined whether they should be
allowed to land.
No doubt there is something good in almost
all OF these measures. Tho plan Of consular
certificates Is entirely feasible, and ought to
produce excellent results. Consuls would DO
liable to DO deceived, especially where tho
authorities in tho other country were anxious to
be rid Of tho omigrants. but all VIGOROUSLY
Objectionable characters could easily be ex-
Guided in this way, and it cannot be said that
tho present system accomplishcs SO much. The
placing Of heavy penalties on tho steamship
companies is q plan that Is understood to DO
favored by some Of tho companies themselves
II would certainly render them cautious as to
the character Of their passengers, and so would
have an excellent deterrent effect The qucs-
ton Of imposing headtax so considerable as
TO keep out largo numbers Of intending immi-
grants involves many important considerations.